Octothorpe

John is trying, Alison is watching a video and Liz is humming.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Global inequality (letters of comment), harassment (Montreal discussion)

Letters of comment

Christopher J Garcia (email)

“Kenya: Where Can You See Lions?”

Darin Briskman (see below)

Fredrick V Coulter (Facebook)

Jake Casella Brookins (Bluesky)

Jake Casella Brookins (Bluesky) and España Sheriff

“Barbarella Meets the Matmos”

Lilian Edwards (Facebook)

Meg MacDonald (Facebook)

Paul Weimer (email)

Renay (see below)

Tammy Coxen (Bluesky)

Tommy Ferguson (emails)

We also heard from Ali Baker Brooks, Brina Nisbet, Farah Mendlesohn, Ivan Sinha, Kev McVeigh, Mike Scott

Smofcon 42

I’ve mirrored all the Q&As on my own Dropbox because I’m grumpy

Worldcon 2027: Montréal

They got a website!

The organisation chart

A list of blogs on the René Walling harassment incident

Genevieve Valentine’s original report

Worldcon 2026: LAcon V in Los Angeles

Join by 31 January to nominate in the Hugo Awards

Hugo Awards

Renay (of the fanzine Intergalactic Mixtape) has written a great guide on how to participate in the Hugo Awards

“Anyone Can Vote in the Hugo Awards — And Here’s How” by Molly Templeton on Reactor

“I Bet You Didn’t This Was Hugo-Eligible: Some of My 2025 Picks” by Kat Kourbeti

The Last War in Albion

Picks

John: The Umbrella Academy

Alison: KPop Demon Hunters

Liz: Astronomy Photographer of the Year

The winning photograph

Credits

Cover art: “Three Lions Relaxing” by Liz Batty

Alt text: Three lions photographed on a safari in Kenya, with glasses photoshopped onto two of them to make them look very slightly more like John and Alison. The top has words reading “Octothorpe 151” and the bottom has words reading “Definitely not about the cricket”. It is unclear why, because John edited all the cricket out.

Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John doesn’t want to pass out, Alison is a wuss, but Liz doesn’t think it’s gratuitous.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Gore and vampirism (Liz’s pick)

Letters of comment

Chris Garcia (email)

Fredrik Coulter (Facebook)

Ivan Sinha (email)

Nicholas Whyte (email)

Paul Weimer (email)

Roseanna Pendlebury (email)

Tammy Coxen (Bluesky)

We also heard from Ali Baker Brooks, Farah Mendlesohn, Kev McVeigh, and Mike Scott

Chris Barkley got his Hugo Award!

Smofcon 2025: Smofcon 42 in Stockholm, Sweden

The Q&A

Videos of the Q&A on YouTube

Kayla Allen notes on File 770 that the sound is very poor in places

Smofcon 2026: Smofcon 43 in Lisbon, Portugal

The Worldcons that presented:

2026: LAcon V in Los Angeles, USA

2027: Montreal, Canada

2028:

Brisbane, Australia

Nuremberg, Germany

Kigali, Rwanda

2029: Dublin, Ireland

2030: Edmonton, Canada

2031: Texas, USA

2032: Nantes, France

Nantes Utopiales

2033: No interest

2034: Glasgow, Scotland

Vision statement

2035: Poland

Unknown: Czechia

Festival Fantazie

Picks

John: Your Wish is My Command by Deena Mohamed

Alison: The Lost Nose by John Sladek

Sort of collected in Maps: The Uncollected John Sladek by John Sladek

Liz: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

Credits

Cover art: “Alison is Still Obsessed with Ukuleles” by Alison Scott

Alt text: A Mahalo Flying V, an Uma Blue Pineapple, and a Brunswick soprano are hanging on a Christmas tree beneath the words “Octothorpe 150”.

Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John is going to Smofcon, Alison has FOMO, and Liz is a horrible person.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

Letters of comment

Andreas Davour (email)

Chris Garcia (email)

Ed Morland (BlueSky on 147, 148)

Cyclo-cross

Mathmo.org

Emily January (email)

Karen Schaffer (email)

Literal antivirus

Paul Weimer (email)

Centrale Montemartini

We also heard from Alan Fleming, Ali Baker Brooks, Andrew Thompson, Brian Nisbet, Bridget Bradshaw, DC, Duncan MacGregor, Ivan Sinha, Jan Harley, Kev McVeigh, Malcolm Hutchison, Mike Scott, Neil Ottenstein, Shi Lala, and Tommy Ferguson

Famous Belgians: Simon Stevin

Smofcon 2025: Smofcon 42 in Stockholm, Sweden

Smofcon Q&As

Salute of the Jugger

How to stream it in the UK

John would like to thank Glasgow 2024 for a travel bursary allowing him to attend!

Novacon 2026: Novacon 55 in Buxton

Una McCormack

Picks

John: The Truman Show

Alison: Pluribus

Liz: The Summer War by Naomi Novik

Credits

Cover art: ”Archaeologists“ by Alison Scott

Alt text: John and Alison, dressed in clothes reminiscent of The Mummy, look down some stairs upon Liz’s tomb, in which her skeleton still holds her Hugo Award, framed by stonework. The words “Octothorpe 149” appear at the top of the image.

Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John, Alison, and stunt Liz Emily Tesh are live from Novacon 54!

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: It’s a live recording!

Thanks to Emily Tesh for being our stunt Liz!

You can find Emily at her website, with links to socials at the bottom of the page

Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones

Visit Stow Shirts for all your Octothorpe merchandise needs

Picks

John: The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

Alison: Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler

Emily: The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson

Credits

Cover art: “Live from Novacon” by Steven Cain and Alison Scott

Alt text: Emily Tesh, John, and Alison stand in front of a suspiciously purple background which may indicate that the real background has been subtracted by nefarious photo editing. The words “Octothorpe 148 Live from Novacon” are overlaid.

Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John is ready, Alison had forgotten, and Liz is surprised.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Animal torture (letters of comment)

Letters of comment

Chris Garcia (email)

Ed Morland (BlueSky)

Farah Mendlesohn (Facebook)

Pictcon 2026: PictCon 2 in Perth, 17 October

Finbarr O’Reilly (email)

Kev McVeigh (Facebook)

Kin-Ming Looi (Facebook)

Paul Weimer (BlueSky, email)

Tammy Coxen (Facebook)

Terry Gibbs (Facebook)

Raj (Mastodon)

We also heard from Mike Scott, Neil Ottenstein and Tammy Coxen

2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction

Ebon Moss-Bachrach on the red carpet

Event broadcast on YouTube

LAcon V opens Hugo Awards Base Contest

36th Galaxy Awards

Roderick Leeuwenhart

Tianwen Awards

Ersatz Culture on Mastodon

BKK Comics Art Festival #4

The Blaft Book of Anti-Caste SF

Belgian comics

Asian Board Games Festival (ABGF)

“Walking The Walk With RPGs In Malaysia” (paywalled on Rascal)

Picks

John: The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship

Shut Up & Sit Down’s review

Board Game Arena

The dice tower

Alison: The Word for World exhibition at the Architectural Association

Secret Maps at the British Library

Liz: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Star Wars is being properly remastered?

Credits

Cover art: “Nepal Spotter’s Guide” by Paul Weimer (text by Alison Scott)

Alt text: A photograph of the mountains of Nepal with text overlaid, reading “Octothorpe 147 Official Octothorpe Nepal Identification Guide* (*apparently never gets old)** (** Liz might like to go to a comics con there)”.

Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)